Fpl To Keep Manatees Warm

Florida Power & Light Co. will spend $250,000 to keep Lee County manatees from facing a chilly winter.

The utility company will construct wells and pumps to provide up to 5.2 million gallons of earth-warmed groundwater into a discharge canal at its oil- burning power plant near Fort Myers.

The discharge of water from the plant has made the canal a popular winter hangout for manatees, but the company is cutting back on its use of the plant. Without a new supply of warm water, the slow-moving, warm-blooded mammals would be left in the lurch this winter.

The South Florida Water Management District, meeting in Fort Lauderdale Thursday, approved with water withdrawal permit for one year, but urged FPL officials to investigate other sources of warm water.

Stanley Hole, chairman of the district`s governing board, said the water source, while too salty to meet drinking water standards, could be treated to meet regulations for human consumption or used as is to irrigate farm fields.

The permit will allow FPL to run its three water-well pumps only 70 days a year, which should be enough to warm the canal during the short cold weather season on the southwest Florida coast, officials said.

FPL projects it will need to operate the water warming system an average of 44 days during most winters. Exposure to cold water can make manatees subject to respiratory ailments. Prolonged exposure can be fatal.

Power plant discharge canals are popular with small herds of manatees in most coastal areas of South Florida. The Lee County plant is on a canal off the Caloosahatchee River.

The groundwater FPL will pump should have an average temperature of 86 degrees, district officials said, and should be effective in maintaining the overall canal water at 66 degrees or higher, the level needed to keep the manatees in good health.